In order to counter the housing crisis, the Quebec government is preparing to legislate to allow regional county municipalities (RCMs) to finance rental projects on the private market.
An MRC could, for example, offer financial incentives to real estate developers in order to encourage them to build apartments rather than houses.
For the Minister of Municipal Affairs Andrée Laforest, it is a question of allowing cities and RCMs “to contribute more to the creation of housing”, indicated his cabinet to the Homework Thursday.
These changes would go through amendments to the Law on land use planning and urban planning (LAU), which the government had to review anyway, it is reported.
This issue recently came back into the news in Gaspésie, where the vacancy rate is below 1%. Faced with a glaring lack of housing, the MRC du Rocher-Percé wanted to offer builders of apartment blocks a subsidy of $10,000 per door.
Low interest in rental in the region
“With us, the private sector invests very little in rental property,” explains the president of the Table des préfets de la Gaspésie, Mathieu Lapointe. “It costs more to build in Gaspésie and the return on investment is longer. So it takes financial assistance from the private sector to stimulate construction. »
To finance the project, the MRC du Rocher-Percé wanted to use the Regions and Rurality Fund (FRR) program of the Ministry of Municipal Affairs. But the latter “blocked” the process by asserting that the MRCs did not have the power to act in this way, relates Mr. Lapointe.
In March 2022, the MRC complained to the minister in writing. Then this fall, the Table of prefects gave a layer by denouncing the situation.
However, elected officials have nothing to fear, now assures the press secretary of Minister Laforest, Léonie Bernard-Abel. The MRC du Rocher-Percé project will therefore be able to move forward via the FRR program.
“They told us that we were going to be able to move forward,” said Mr. Lapointe, who is also mayor of Carleton, in Baie-des-Chaleurs.
“But to correct the situation, it will be necessary to change the law,” he said. “The idea is that the MRCs can act on housing. […] We want to have this skill in a broader way. »
Mr. Lapointe hopes that a bill will be tabled for this purpose during the next parliamentary session, which begins on January 31. But the minister’s office was unable to say Thursday when the text could be presented.